In the field of chemical analysis, many instruments have been developed for assisting in determining the composition of samples. Such instruments are well known to research chemists who use the instruments daily in their work. The experiments performed frequently require the selection of various instrument operating parameters. In the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometer such as the Perkin-Elmer ICP-6000, for example, the power level, the height above the excitation coil where measurements are taken and the rate of flow of the nebulizer gas are all manually adjustable. The setting for each of these adjustable controls has a substantial effect on the operation of the instrument. If the setting is correct, the results are highly useful. However, if the setting is wrong, the data from an experiment may give misleading results. Therefore, in the operation of such instruments, the skill and knowledge of the operator greatly affects the validity of the results. In addition, even skilled operators may spend a substantial amount of time in determining the proper setting of the adjustable instrument operating parameters before meaningful results can be achieved.
In view of the above stated difficulties, it is the primary objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for operating that apparatus which will permit rapid and accurate determination of operating parameters of an adjustable instrument for chemical analysis.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for operating the apparatus which quickly and accurately determines the operating parameters which give near optimum results without requiring the intervention of an operator to interpret intermediate test results and prescribe subsequent experiments with new instrument operating parameters.